Injustice and oppression cannot continue without repression. In the US, those in power have constructed vicious mechanisms of repression to keep oppressed people down and to punish those who resist, from the widespread lynchings and Jim Crow laws of yesterday to police brutality, frame-ups in court, and imprisonment today. These and other repressive measures serve to send a message that if you dare to resist injustice or if oppressed people refuse to accept “their place,” they will be targeted and punished.

But struggles against repression over the last century have won real victories and carved out room for further resistance. The mass movement to stop the execution of the Sacco and Vanzetti in the 1920s, though not successful, mobilized millions around the world in defense of two anarchist immigrants who were framed up, and prepared the ground for the class struggles of the 1930s. In the 1930s, mass protest against the legal lynching of the “Scottsboro Boys” prevented the execution of nine Black teenagers and exposed the regime of white supremacy in the South. The 1964–65 Berkeley Free Speech Movement created breathing room for the radical student movements that rocked society in the following years. The “Free Huey!” movement of the late 1960s built broad support for the Black liberation struggle and freed one of its leaders, Black Panther Huey Newton. In the 1990s, mass protest prevented the execution of former Black Panther and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and exposed the way police, prosecutors, and prisons are used to subjugate Black people more generally. Throughout history, mass movements defending political prisoners, fighting the lynching and imprisonment of Black and oppressed people, and pushing back against repressive measures that stifle resistance have proven crucial to giving the struggles of the people oxygen to breathe and not letting those in power get away with vicious repression.

Today, protesters against the corporations and government policies that destroy our planet face legal charges and imprisonment. The rebels of Summer 2020 and radical protesters during Trump’s 2017 inauguration have likewise faced court battles and potential imprisonment. Anyone speaking out against Israel’s occupation of Palestine risks being publicly persecuted by a well-funded right-wing network. Women who defend themselves against abusers have been locked in prison, and now women face potential prosecution for exercising their right to control their own bodies. Countless others who dare to resist injustice have been arrested, prosecuted, and thrown in jail. Furthermore, whole sections of the US population are targeted for repression. Black youth in particular, along with other oppressed people, have been criminalized, with police, prosecutors, and judges conspiring to frame them up and lock them up in a prison system that further dehumanizes them. With well over two million behind bars, the US has the highest portion of its population imprisoned of any country in the world.

The questions we must ask ourselves are who will stand with the targets of repression and how will we defend those subjected to repression? Our answer is that the masses of people must take a stand. While lawyers have a crucial role to play combating legal charges and repressive measures in court, the best defense is mass action by the people that protests and exposes each and every act of repression and stands with the targets of repression.

Our mission:

• Defend those who are persecuted, prosecuted, and imprisoned for resisting injustice!
• Fight the frame-ups of Black and other oppressed people!
• Combat the repressive measures of the powers that be!